This week’s hot-button topic is on Joey Logano, the 18-year-old Nationwide Series rookie.
In just three races, Logano has earned two pole positions and got his first career victory last weekend at Kentucky Speedway. But it was the seventh time this season that the No. 20 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing has gone to Victory Lane, using four different drivers. With the quick success of Logano and the continued stronghold of the JGR outfit, it naturally brings forth the question: Is Logano’s success credited to the driver, or is it the equipment?
Read both sides of the argument and then weigh in with your take.
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2.1.1p2/815 Wed Oct 15 02:19:46 UTC 2008
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(you must be a member of this group to comment)ChickenMan88
Jun 27 2008 00:39
Don't forget ......
Car , driver & team !! I think its all three !! Got to have a good team to make it ALL work !! That is why Kyle is winning right now . He has a good team put together at Gibbs !! Just my thought !
mattfan5
Jun 24 2008 22:12
Joey Lagano-its the driver mostly
Look at the progress Kyle Busch made to Billy Bilou in the 51 truck. Kenny Wallace drove the same truck at Gateway in IL and couldnt even stay on the lead lap. Kyle had won previously in that same truck/chassis. Good equipment is important but the drivers ability has to come thru for success. If it was just the car, it should have won every nationwide race this year.
fastchaz
Jun 21 2008 09:17
Can he race when he is not in the lead?
No one knows. He has ALWAYS been in the best of the best equipment throughout his career, racing against homespun engines with Joe Gibbs equipment in Busch East, the ARCA joke at Rockingham and now more of the same. Credit the kid with handling it well, but so far in three NNS Series races he has only been in traffic once….and he crashed. He is definitely talented, but far from proven.
20ischampion
Jun 19 2008 17:52
Both
I think it is both the driver and the car. Joey Logono is a great driver and there is no doubt about that but the #20 car is the best out there so when you put a good driver with the best car your gonna get good results. If Logano was maybe in a weaker car i think he would still do good but defenetly not as good as he has dont in the #20 car. So its a bit of both driver and equipment. But he won so he showed he has what it takes and hopefully he gets in cup soon but i hope he doesnt take the place of Tony Stewart in the #20 cup car cause Stewart needs to stay with JGR. Anyways anyone readin this go to my profile and comment on my blogs please.
Bandit337
Jun 19 2008 17:30
It's Both
Is it the driver or the car? It is a combination of the two. The 20 car is that good this year, but without a very good driver, it does not win. Joey Logano is a very good driver, but without a good car, he more than likely does not win in his third start. If you put him in, oh say, the #28 Boarder Patrol car, he is not going to win. Put him in, oh say, the #32 Toyota, he has a good shot at winning. Just look at what he did in his first (and only) ARCA race driving the #25 for Bill Venturini. That car has not been a dominate car. It has been decent. And Joey steps in and wins his first ARCA race. I watched him race at Irwindale Speedway in the Toyota All-Star Showdown last year. The kid can flat out drive a race car. And in my opinion from what I have seen first hand, he has more talent than alot of drivers in Cup right now. I just hope Gibbs doesn’t move him up to Cup too soon…that is about the only thing that will derail his potential. And when he makes it to the Cup series, I think he has the potential to win a race his rookie year and eventually be a year-in year-out contender for titles. And I will end this with one little tidbit – all the great drivers have benefited from having good cars under them…Richard Petty, David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, etc.
Shark01
Jun 19 2008 16:32
TALENT OVER MACHINE
Joey is an up and coming star no doubt….
But in NASCAR you need both the talent
And the equipment, and as for the wins that
That the 20 car has, look at the talent that has been behind wheel
Joey has what it take to be one of the next big star
In NASCAR. I think Joey is the winner over the car he has
The pedal to the metal attitude. He is a diamond in the rough
His career can only get brighter
LordWill
Jun 19 2008 15:43
its the car
Joey Lagano is obviously a talented young driver, but look at the car he’s in. It’s had 4 different winners. Gibbs is dominating this year almost like Hendrick did last year, although Gibbs is nowhere near as dominant. I dont think this kid is the next Jeff Gordon or Richard Petty by any means. Look at Martin Truex Jr for example. Straight up dominated the Busch series by winning 2 consecutive titles and 12 victories in his only 2 full seasons in that series. He moves to Cup and he’s won 1 race. Truex has had alot of good runs( he made the Chase in only his 2nd full year in Cup) and has a bright future ahead of him ( I’m a Truex fan) but thats just how high the competition level is in cup. Just wait til Lagano makes his cup debut. He will benefit by being with one of the top teams, but he will be racing legends like Johnson, Gordon, Stewart,and Kenseth, all of which are Cup Champions. Not to mention drivers like Earnhardt Jr, Biffle, Truex, Edwards, Kyle Busch, Bowyer and Kahne who are way more experiened than he and are all contenders for a title. Lagano is just having his fifteen minutes of fame right now. I’m not saying that he will become a nobody, but i seriously doubt he’s going to live up to this hype. I do not beleive that he is going to move into cup and immediately dominate.
JWM8t8rsport
Jun 19 2008 15:06
Not tak'n
anything away from Logano but the car has been on a rail all yr.
It does take a good driver 2 keep it their,as we seen when he got n the back & got spun like 2 c him run the 18 or 32 not that their bad rides but it seems these 2 rides need a driver 2 help them get their when the 20 is already their.
L88er
CEFan6099
Jun 19 2008 14:39
Joey Logano
has talent..and he really can drive and has proven that. But I am with Bill Kimm and the car and the crew chief seem to be more of a statement to this success. The equipment is exceptional and has many wins from several different drivers—all with one car and one crew chief!